Veterans Benefits Blog

On June 6, 2011, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced a bill which specifically requires VA to have a doctor of chiropractic staff at all of its major facilities by 2014. The bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Thomas Harkin (D-IA), Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

Currently, chiropractic care is only available at a few VA facilities across the country, and many major metropolitan areas are currently without doctors of chiropractic care. If enacted this legislation would presumably allow all veterans to have access to chiropractic care at any VA facility and would also allow VA to have more treatment providers on hand to assist veterans that suffer from musculoskeletal disabilities. This could potentially increase the number of veterans who seek treatment from a chiropractor and possibly reduce the length of time veterans with musculoskeletal disabilities wait for treatment.

Without this bill, further expansion of chiropractic care to VA facilities would be on a case-by-case basis and would probably experience significant delays.

The text of the legislation may be found at http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s1147/text.

Nancy L Foti FAQs, Veterans Benefits Legislation, veterans health care Veterans Benefits Legislation, veterans health care, Veterans legislation

On May 5, 2011, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate to provide a cost-of-living adjustment in the benefits paid to those receiving disability compensation, compensation for dependents, clothing allowances, dependency and indemnity compensation benefits, and dependency and indemnity compensation benefits for children.

U.S. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and every member of the Committee co-sponsored the legislation.

If enacted, this legislation would not establish a set amount paid. Rather, the amount paid would be increased based on increases in the Consumer Price Index, which is the leading indicator of cost of living in America. That is, if the cost of living in America increases by 3% then VA compensation benefits will be increased by 3% automatically. The payment rates would be calculated yearly, rounded down to the nearest whole dollar. Any increases in compensation would be based on the rates in effect on November 30, 2011.

The bill would remove from the political process adjustments in compensation paid to veterans and their dependents and guarantee an adjustment in compensation that keeps pace with the cost of living.

The text of the legislation may be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.894: .

Todd M Wesche Veterans Benefits Claims, Veterans Benefits Legislation Veterans Benefits Claims, Veterans Benefits Legislation, Veterans legislation

The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairwoman is set to introduce on Wednesday, May 11, 2011, a bill that would require separating service members to attend the Transition Assistance Program, more frequently known amongst service members and veterans as “TAPs.” As it stands today, the TAPs class is a voluntary program meant to assist service members in achieving employment post military service. The course currently offers guidance in resumé writing, job-search techniques and interview preparation for departing Enlisted and Officer service men and women.

TAPs is available to all departing service members, discharged other than dishonorably. Unfortunately, most service members are unaware of this opportunity. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is proposing to make the program mandatory. It appears the “Hiring Heroes” bill would maintain the same TAPs course format; there is no indication that the chairwoman is seeking any changes to what is offered. A substantial change to the program in general, however, is the government involvement in follow up.

Sen. Murray is critical of the government’s lack of assistance once service men and women separate from active duty. While the TAPs program is a step in the right direction, there is no follow up to continue to assist the veteran. It is important to note that there are programs available to assist veterans in obtaining employment after they have separated, if they ask for assistance. But again, according to Sen. Murray, many veterans are unaware of these services. The Hiring Heroes bill would require the government to contact veterans and notify them of these services while following up on their progress.

Additional programs would be available for disabled veterans as well, providing an additional 24 months of vocational rehabilitation and employment services, if the bill is passed.

To find out more information about the proposed bill, visit: http://murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=0ea542fe-c8c9-4d9a-ae4d-bc67ffa0f909To find out more information about current Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment services, visit: http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/vre/

Jessica Mast Flage Education Benefits, FAQs FAQs, Veterans Benefits Legislation, Veterans legislation

Last month the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the testing of a new procedure to obtain veterans’ medical records more quickly. Secretary Eric K. Shinseki stated in a news release that the VA is exploring a procedure that employs a private contractor to obtain veterans’ private medical records and transmit them to the offices processing the veterans’ claims. But, how does adding yet another individual into the chain of claims processing achieve the goal of moving a veteran’s claim along more quickly?

The Secretary says he hopes these new procedures will decrease the time it takes to obtain a veteran’s private medical records by one month. Currently, on average, it takes private medical records approximately 40 days to reach the VA. The private contractor’s sole scope of work is to contact private physicians, obtain the records, scan them into a computerized system, and transmit them to the VA office processing the claim.

Currently, VA employees are tasked with those responsibilities, along with reviewing claims files, obtaining government agency records, and many other functions. The hope is that the private contractor will relieve VA employees of the medical records chore to enable them to use their time processing claims. The Secretary’s aim is to decrease the time it takes to decide a claim by “freeing up” the VA employees and by obtaining private medical records more quickly.

How can you help make the process move faster on your end?

When filing a claim for Veterans Benefits, the VA is more than likely going to review your private medical records. You can help by obtaining these records on your own. Your physician will likely require you to fill-out and sign some sort of records release. The faster you sign and return the release form permitting the physician to give your records to another individual (or organization like the VA), the faster the VA will receive your records and decide your claim. Also, if you obtain your own records and provide them to VA, make sure you tell VA that you’ve already gotten all the records, so that VA won’t delay your case by requesting the records again.

To read the entire news release, please follow this link:

http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2015

Jessica Mast Flage FAQs, Veterans Benefits Claims VA claims, Veterans Benefits Legislation, veterans disability benefits, Veterans Disability claims

In late May 2010, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki prepared a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate requesting that his draft legislation entitled “Veterans Benefit Programs Improvement Act of 2010” be considered and enacted. The purpose of the draft bill is to improve (1) VA’s compensation and pension programs, (2) the timeliness and efficiency of VA’s adjudication of claims and appeals, (3) VA’s loan guaranty system, (4) vocational rehabilitation and education benefits, and (5) Veterans Group Life Insurance participants. Details of the particulars with respect to the suggested changes and reasons for them can be viewed at: http://www.vawatchdog.org/10/nf10/nfmay10/may10files/SecyLegislation.pdf
While it is clear that many of the proposed changes appear good for veterans, there are several items that have surfaced that may negatively impact the legal representation of veterans.
Under Title II, Section 206, which concerns decisions of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, the legal standard of what the Board must include in its decisions may change. VA is concerned that more than half of the claims appealed to the Veterans Court result in a remand back to the Board due to an inadequate statement of reasons or bases. The comments to the proposed change note, among others, that while some remands are necessary, many remands based on reasons or bases do not benefit the claimant. Therefore, changing the statutory language from reasons or bases to “a plausible statement of the reasons for the Board’s ultimate findings of fact and conclusions of law” would reduce the number of remands.
Under Title II, Section 207, which addresses the definition of prevailing party status for purposes of entitlement to Equal Access to Justice Act, i.e., reimbursement of attorney fees, the proposed language is alarming. If the language is adopted, attorneys who represent veterans before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims would only be eligible for reimbursement of attorney fees if, after securing a remand or reversal at the appellate level, the veteran ultimately is awarded a monetary or other benefit at the administrative level. The language further allows the Court and the Secretary to prescribe rules that would allow the Court to retain control over all remands, and only upon a showing that the veteran was awarded benefits, could the attorney be entitled to reimbursement of fees.
If either of these proposed changes become law, it is likely to negatively impact the number of attorneys willing to represent veterans at the court level. If attorneys know that the chances of recovering attorney fees is limited and that it will be that much more difficult to secure remands, the Veterans Court will likely see many more unrepresented claimants.

David J Lowenstein FAQs, Veterans Benefits Claims, Veterans Benefits Legislation Veterans Benefits Claims, Veterans Benefits Legislation, veterans disability benefits